Spoke to the vet this evening and pork is
a definite no no and also hide chews do not
swell up in their gut so are perfectly safe,the
reason given for not feeding pork is the meat is
too closely related to dog,so it would be like dog
eating dog,don't know if this is true,but I always
thought there were health problems with feeding
pork,I know that pig skin is very similar to ours,and
that is why it is used for skin grafts,if the patient's
skin can't be used,anyway will ask around to see
if anyone else has any ideas about pork being fed
to dogs,but I have never fed pork to any of my dogs
and nor will I.

Have found out that pork has a high
salt content,which would make it unsuitable
for feeding to dogs,anyway why feed pork
ribs,when there are better alternatives.

Pigs are related to dogs??? Now there's a first if ever I heard one.

They are ungulates, cattle, goat and sheep are also ungulates, perhaps we shouldn't feed those either? Moose and deer are also part of this family... and they are regular prey for wolves.

I think perhaps your vet needs to go back to their books and do a bit of reading up.

Some pork, such as bacon, would have salt added to it, these would be unsuitable for dogs. Untreated pork wouldn't have a significantly higher sodium content than any other meat I would imagine.

I've been feeding pork to my dogs for along time and know of others that do the same. Heck even some of those commercial dog food companies put it in their dog food...

No offence Callie but i think you should change vets as yours doesn't seem to have a clue what he is talking about. Dogs are not similar to pigs and if it is being likened to humans receiving grafts from pigs, well don't you think we would all have been told to stop eating pork?!

Oh and as for the salt content - raw pork ribs will only have a high salt content if they have had salt added to them - surely that;'s just commen sense. Bacon or a gammon, very different. Pork is not naturally high in salt.

Dogs are related to pigs? Well I've heard it all now.

Right, I'm off to build a sty in my garden and buy some pigswill for my dogs

Are you sure it was a vet you spoke to Callie?

I don't know... I think that Lottie the collie may be part pig. She lives in mud. And Loki eats like a pig so.....

I know for a fact that pigs skin is used in
skin grafts if the patient's own skin cannot be
used,my sister had to have a major op as she
was involved in a bomb blast 40 yrs ago,and her
skin was so badly burnt that they had to use pig
skin,the thing that saved her life was the counter
she worked behind,she was not allowed to sunbathe for
a yr or stay out in the sun for any length of time.
I do agree about pigs being related to dogs,I think
it's rubbish,but that's what I was told,so don't shoot
the messenger.

I don't think anyone was disputing the fact that pig skin and organs are used in human medicine, just that pigs are related to dogs. Not shooting you, but maybe your vet!

There should be a new Saturday night TV show: "Vets say the funniest things (and charge the daftest prices)"

Very funny. And a show there'd be lots of material for, no doubt. I think some of them make it up as they go along at times.

I think Cally, you should go to a different vet if he really believes that dogs and pigs are related.

I didn't know pig skin was used to treat burns 40 years ago. That's amazing! I didn't realise they use pig skin at all - I have heard of babies foreskins being cultivated to make skin grafts, but never pig skin.